White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Monday that President Trump’s firing of FBI director James Comey had to be done, even if the president’s timing would look «detrimental to himself and prolong the investigation.»
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — The White House used Monday’s news conference to stress its lack of faith in former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation James Comey, saying the president’s action was needed even if the timing of the move would be “detrimental to himself and prolong the investigation.”
“He didn’ t care if this action made matters worse for him, ” said White House press secretary Sean Spicer about President Donald Trump’s firing of Comey last week. “He said that he wants the investigation to go ‘absolutely properly,’ and he said he might even confuse people if he takes this action.”
Trump removed Comey as head of the FBI on May 9, raising questions about whether the White House wanted to scuttle an investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 elections.
“I think very clearly there was bipartisan support that Jim Comey wasn’ t up the job, ” said Spicer. “The president has every right to fire a person. Director Comey lacked the judgement and the decision making skills to live up to the job. The president’s reaction to this and his position has been completely misrepresented.
“He knew the actions that he took could be detrimental to himself and prolong the investigation, but he knew it was the right thing for the country, the right thing for the FBI, and the right thing to get to the bottom of this.”
Former U. S. Attorney General Michael Garcia and Alice Fisher — an assistant attorney general under President George W. Bush — arrived at the Justice Department this weekend. They’ re among the more than two dozen lawmakers, attorneys, and law enforcement officials emerging as candidates for the next director of the FBI.
Previously the president said he may pick an FBI nominee by Friday.
